(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to fibre-optic sensor packages.
(2) Description of the Art
There are presently two principal techniques for carrying out surveys for detecting new hydrocarbon reservoirs and re-examining existing ones. The first technique is seismic and involves towing an acoustic noise source over the top of a reservoir (or suspected reservoir) and using arrays of electro-mechanical geophones and/or hydrophones to detect seismic signals reflected from geological strata. (In this specification, the term ‘geophone’ is taken to mean a vibration sensor which measures either velocity or acceleration). The hydrophones and/or geophones can be either temporarily or permanently placed in position. This technique gives a significant level of detail relating to geological formations but gives only an indirect indication of the presence and exact location of hydrocarbon deposits.
The second technique is electromagnetic surveying, which involves moving a strong varying electric field source into a series of positions over a reservoir and using an electromagnetic field sensor, for example a voltage sensor, to measure electric field strength at a corresponding series of locations. The frequency of the electric field is low, typically between 0.5 and 5 Hz. This provides information on the conductivity of structures below each position which can be used to more directly determine the location of hydrocarbon deposits.
The two techniques are complementary and it is preferred to use both in order to gather the most complete information about a hydrocarbon reservoir. Two entirely separate surveys are therefore needed to assess a single reservoir, each requiring deployment of particular electro-mechanical detection apparatus as well as separate sources of probing radiation. This makes for difficult, time-consuming and expensive surveying. Furthermore, as easily-exploitable hydrocarbon deposits become exhausted, smaller and more inaccessible deposits are being sought. In order for the exploitation of these deposits to be economically viable, the time and cost involved in finding and assessing them need to be minimised. The deployment of two sets of electro-mechanical detection apparatus is unlikely to be economically viable in the case of small hydrocarbon deposits.
Another problem associated with existing detection apparatus is that the electro-mechanical sensors used in them require significant inputs of electrical power. This involves penalties in terms of cost and complexity of the detection apparatus.